


Final Fantasy VI: Alternative

by brainfriiz



Category: 2 Mystery Crossovers!, Final Fantasy VI, StarCraft (Video Games), マブラヴ | Muv-Luv
Genre: Action/Adventure, Aliens, Gen, Giant Robots, Magic, Magitek
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:42:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24329728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brainfriiz/pseuds/brainfriiz
Summary: Inspired by Muv-Luv Alternative.A meteor crashed into the planet 10 years prior, and with it, the Zerg.  Magitek is the only force keeping the Zerg at bay, and Gestahl wields it to his economic advantage.  Follow the Imperials as they leverage their magitechnological superiority to subjugate all other domains while balancing the extermination of the Zerg.I wrote this story with fans of the original game in mind, and that fans might take pleasure in discovering the differences in relationships between this story and the original game.  This is intended to be an action focused story (since writing this is a poor substitute to making an original game of my own), but I took great pleasure in writing how different characters would exist in this world torn apart by an alien invasion.  And also mecha.  I can't say I've seen a good fanfic that revolved around Magitek Armor combat in the Final Fantasy VI fandom, and I hope some of the liberties I took excite you much in the same way just thinking of the story excites me!
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	Final Fantasy VI: Alternative

_Our tale begins on board the airship, "Blackjack."_

"At ease, Lieutenants," Terra says as she steps into the Operations room with several large rolls of parchment in her arms, which she then sets down on a converted poker table. "We're calling this Operation Laeventeinn. Not an hour ago, we've received confirmation from the Shadowbroker that the Narsheans have dug out the frozen corpse of an Esper deep in their mines. The Empire is enforcing the De la Norte Imperative. The Narshean defense is inadequately prepared to keep this Esper safe from the Zerg. While we are hoping for a stealth and peaceful operation, we wholly suspect there will be cursory military defense leading down to the Esper."

The two men exchanged glances as Terra began sprawling maps across the table.

"Here are the mines. We'll be landing here," Terra points at the map near the main entrance to the new mine. "We're going to drop in on top the mine from the dead of night. The esper was found less then a malm deep. We have a mole that will have a payload transport waiting for us, we need only fasten the esper to it, kick on the magitek engine, and escort it out. When the Blackjack hits a return pass, we'll hook the esper in and reel ourselves up.

"The mines leave some room for maneuverability. But the biggest obstacle will be watching out for friendly fire. The second concern is to memorize these maps, as these are all potential points of ambush. For them and against them.”

"Ideally, the Blackjack does not get sighted. Plan A, we can lift the payload right out of the mine, with us along with it. If the Blackjack gets spotted after the payload is in the air, we switch to Plan B, we lift the payload out of the mine, but we will have to rendezvous for evac at another location and time. We would fight to keep the Blackjack safe. Plan C, the Blackjack is in jeopardy from attack, we must push the payload all the way out of Narshe to find a secure location for the Blackjack. Plan D, we mess up a few thousand Zerg as well."

"And if the magitek engine is destroyed or they break the tracks?" asks Wedge.

"...We carry it on our backs the old fashioned way," Biggs interjects.

"Correct. Check your files on the Narshean military to get a read on what we will face. We will reconvene at the hangar at 0100 hours. That is all for the briefing. Any further questions?"

"No, ma'am!" both officers state.

"Dismissed!"

Both officers gave a salute. "Ma'am."

"I chose both of you by name for this mission. Your records speak for themselves. It is my pleasure to work with two rising stars of the Empire." Terra gives a charming wink, causing the boys to swoon, before she heads out of the Op room.

Biggs elbowed the still saluting Wedge in the ribs, "Hah, that wink is all for me."

"In your dreams, Biggs." Wedge broke the salute with a chuckle, "The Captain can see right through you. She knows I'm the one doing all the heavy lifting in our duo."

"You're far to stiff. You lack the gall to call her the Imperial Witch! She's far more wild then you can handle, if the rumors are true."

"That you have any doubts is the proof that you lack the resolve to tango with the Captain. If she seduced you, you would run away frightened that she'd fry your cock off and serve it to General Kefka."

~~~~~

"Juuust my luck." Setzer collapsed into his recliner in his cabin lamenting the midnight emergency call. Working so intimately with the Empire had its ups and downs, but at moments like these, what he wouldn't pay to be free again. To think only a few years ago he had to pilot and do most of the maintenance on the ship himself. Now he had a small crew and the stealthiest air vessel in the world.

 _Knock knock._ "Setzer, may I join you for a bit?," a feminine voice muted by wood reached through the door.

"Door's open."

"Hey. It's been almost two years, hasn't it?" Terra closed the door behind her and pulled up a stool as Setzer nodded a greeting toward her. The cabin had a great view of the world below, or the darkness below in this instance. "I haven't seen you since my last Thamasa campaign began. Though..." Terra tapped her chin with a mischievous smile. "Having met Daryl, it feels like I know everything. About. You." Terra let out an impish giggle.

"Stop right there, that's all I needed to know. I'm calling this game now." Setzer frowned and seemed prepared to cast Terra out of the room.

"Hold your bets, Setzer. I have to know, and this will remain between you and I, but... when will you propose your hand in marriage to Daryl?"

"We're already married in spirit, and in bed. You know she's a wild one," Setzer paused. "I'm going to propose to her in a race. A race across the sky! I've scouted a beautiful triangle island off the north shore of the east continent. There's not a spore colony in sight! There's a beautiful cliffside over the ocean. I'm going to give her the coordinates and race her there. And if I win, I'll propose as we watch the sun set."

"Oh! That sounds so romantic!" Terra gushed with mild envy. "At the edge of the world! A prime spot for the world's top pilots. Do you have a ring ready?"

"Yep. It's a magic-infused cherub diamond." Setzer knocked on a compartment of the cabin above his head. "I've been keeping it right here so it's ready when the moment is right. Hmm, I should check it, it's been half a year. The magic might be wearing out."

"If you don't mind, please let me see it. I can recharge it for you if the spell is dulling."

"This isn't the time to fly back to the Labs..." Setzer pulled the ringbox out of the compartment.

"Ah Setzer. I'll let you in on a little secret." Terra draws close to Setzer's ear and whispers, "I. Can. Cast. Magic."

"Ha.. haha!" Setzer laughed, "That's right. They do call you the Imperial Witch!"

"Setzer, my friend, that is not even the half of it."

"Oh?"

"Here, let me see the ring. Hm, it has at least half of it's charge. I'll give it boost anyway. I have a feeling you have a few more years until you place above Daryl in a race."

"Thank you, Terra. And since when have we been friends?"

"Oh, I would say since about when you helped Celes defect."

Setzer's face turned sour as he mused for a moment. "...The Shadowbroker won't be in business for much longer if he can't hold his poker face."

"Well, your secret is safe with me. I'm bitter that she left me behind while I was on another continent. I never said goodbye. When we next meet, I'm going to give her a whole chunk of my mind. And it's not that he spilled any secrets on you. With Mid suspiciously disappearing, too, I put one and three together and started my own investigation."

"I'm more amazed you could buy him off."

"I'm more wealthy than you might imagine. I have my own stack of chips in this game."

Setzer poured himself a glass of wine. He gestured for Terra to partake as well, but she refused.

"The odds of success tonight aren't in our favor. Please, have a glass, Terra. It'll take the edge off."

"I'm the Eishi Elite of the Empire. The odds are always in my favor, Setzer. I'm your safest bet."

~~~~~

"This is it, boys! Final systems check!" Terra called into the comms channel. The loud whirring of three magitek engines booting in the cacophonous bay met the howling winds of the night sky.

"Riot 02, all systems nominal," called Wedge.

"Riot 01, all systems nominal." called Biggs. Biggs & Wedge are riding the bulky M-Tek Reaper armors which focus heavily on elemental laser armaments, though these two were augmented with the utility arms in case they are needed for heavy lifting or pulling in dealing with the Esper.

"Riot 00, all systems nominal. Commencing drop in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... "

They are launched from their inline tracks out of the bay. They are each strapped to top-like pods, which use a magical focus to keep them on track for their predetermined landing zone.

"Woohoo! I never get tired of this!," Biggs hollered.

"The rush... the blood going straight to your head!," Terra joined in.

"I could do this everyday and I'll never bore of it!," Wedge said.

"We'll be landing in forty-five seconds. Ten seconds until radio silence," Terra said.

The radio silence is probably unnecessary, but it is standard precaution, just in case. The Empire licenses out it's Magitechnology across the globe as it's the only effective means of fending off the alien menace. The comms technology shipped off with it is tuned to be blind to the wavelengths the Empire uses. The radio silence is a precaution against any reverse engineering of the comms technology, though no case has been reported, yet.

The landing occurred without a hitch.

~~~~~

Static picked up on the linkpearl. "Quiet," Terra says.

The linkpearl picked up a conversation over the Narshe network. "Confirmed sightings of Armor over the hills in the west. Three kilometers out."

Biggs mused, "Looks like we aren't the only party crashers tonight." No wonder the mines have been so quiet.

"Still, we should expect some defense as we approach the Esper." Terra marches the troops further into the Narshe mines. Drab yet moist from the wintry night. Another call over the Narshe line.

"Anyone riding Armor through the mines? Definitely hearing Armor."

"Dispatch here, no, no patrols or detachments should be in the mines." Silence fills the linkpearls for a brief moment.

"Sounds of Armor are approaching the Esper hall. We're preparing for combat now. It seems they have already slipped inside. Permission to engage with Whelk."

"Permission granted."

"Alright, remember the briefing, boys, and strap in." Terra commands. After some time, the mines open up a bit, and now lies a massive gate. Biggs takes the lead and cuts open the gate with fire beams, and then they are through. The mines light up as they approach the Esper. The Esper is encased in ice, and rainbows can be seen through it as it reflects light from the lanterns on the wall.

"Well don't that just beat all, is that an Esper? That hasn't been reported to the Empire?," Biggs says.

"Indeed. Looks we have a job to do after all!" Wedge fires back.

"They're here, they're here now!" A Narshean Marshal steps up, riding on the back of a giant snail. Terra opens a direct relay to their dispatch.

"I am Captain Terra Branford. In the name of Gestahl, I am here to retrieve an Esper you so graciously unearthed for us," Terra states smugly.

"This is Chief Vicks of the Narshean Marshal service. Over our dead bodies."

Terra activated her fireteam's M-Tek Barrier. Immediately the whirr of charging magitek cannons from all combatants filled the air. Terra speaks, "Then you are in direct violation of Article III of the De la Norte Imperative. This is your last chance to surrender the Esper peacefully. How do you plead?"

"Men, engage at will!" Vicks shot the opening quip of the war.

Lightning beams immediately blast out from all directions. Two Narshean armors drop in from behind for an ambush, with another three to the front. Whelk let's out a snail-y sort of roar and immediately begins building ooze in it's throat sacs.

"Biggs, Wedge, take the front!" Terra shouts, and immediately pivots to the rear. The opposing Armors fire their beams at the Imperials, but Terra slide dodges to the right to avoid one shot and the barrier eats the other. She counter fires a Bolt Beam straight into the side of the exposed armor and begins muttering an incantation as she drives the magitek engine to fire another bolt beam. The undamaged foe pivots and moves to engage closer to Terra, but that is a mistake. The Red Baroness has nearly unparalled maneuverability. He lines up another shot, but finds he has caught fire.

Biggs interjects, "Captain, we have magitek cannons blasting beams straight at the Whelk's shell! Those clever shites!"

"Ahh, Ah, AGH!?!" The horrified soldier can only scream as he is engulfed in flame. Another piercing Bolt Beam from Terra, this time piercing both of their armors, and boths Armor overload, the Eishi of the 1st Armor's body also caught in the shot.

"Shields up!," Terra shouts as she pivots back to the battle with Whelk. The Whelk hocks a wicked slimeball over to Biggs, who only barely scrambled to activate the force field in time, the field slicing the slime in half, where half of it catches onto the armor.

"Crap crap crap!" Biggs knew better then this. Wedge sniped out one of the Narshean Armors, but Biggs had noticed a bigger problem...

...The Whelk is absorbing all the latent magic in the vicinity and storing it in it’s shell!

“Captain, quick!,” Biggs said, “We’re going to be nuked, fried alive!”

“On it!,” Terra said, and reactivated the M-Tek Barrier. The Whelk let loose another mucusy roar, spraying slime everywhere. Lightning zapped to and fro around it’s shell as it glowed brighter and brighter, creating bursts of plasma. With a final burst of energy, the Whelk Megavolts into the M-Tek Barrier. The arc shines through the cavern, ricocheting off all the plasma slime through the air, increasing the intensity of the burst, and in a cacophonous clap, the plasma energy hammers into the Imperial’s M-Tek Barrier.

One of the Narshean Armors got caught in the electrostatic burst, frying himself and his armor, leaving only a final Narshean Armor and the Whelk in the battle against the special forces of the Empire.

“Barrier intact at 88x7%,” Wedge said. Biggs and Wedge charged up their cannons to bombard the last Armor holing up in a defensive position to avoid the Whelk’s Megavolt.

Her eyes never leaving her prize, Terra deactivated the M-Tek Barrier while dashing in to close the gap on the Whelk. “I hope that electric message was worth my time, fiend, because I have a special delivery package for you!” Two missiles whirr out of her rocket pack, spinning through the air! The Whelk dons a stunned eyeball entangling and begins shifting it’s body too slowly for the high speed explosive batteries. “It’s a twofer! Ha ha!,” Terra laughs in delight as the Whelk explodes in slime in every direction, the shell rendered inert.

“Crap! Get this guy off me!,” Biggs shouts into the comms.

In the heat of battle, Vicks made his move. With the opening shots and the ambush, Vicks had the perfect cover. He dodged a bolt beam and got a boot stuck in a puddle of viscous slime. Stealth, however, was on his side. The sounds of metal stamping rock and high energy magic echoing through the halls, the perfect soundscape to move underfoot. With the danger of the Megavolt passed, Vicks moved in on Biggs. A doppelganger moving in on his alter-ego.

The Imperial M-Tek Barrier has dropped, and now was his time to move in. Vicks took the opportunity of Biggs and Wedge shelling the supposed last man to climb up Biggs’s Armor. Vicks climbed up to the top of the Armor and unsheathed his sword. As he through his body into the motion to behead Biggs was one strike, the Armor suddenly twisted away, Vicks losing his balance and letting sound escape his mouth.

Biggs, startled, jerks his body around to see Vicks regaining his hold on the Armor. “What the hell?” Biggs shouts, then asks for assistance into the comms. Biggs unsheathes his own sword as he kicks his Armor into auto-pilot. Vicks, having gained footing on the top of the armor, lays down an over-the-shoulder helmsplitter. Biggs raises his sword above his and parries the blow, but is it enough?

As if on queue, Vicks is set aflame. Biggs capitalizes on this advantage and shoves Vicks off him through his blade, then delivers a swift thrust into the abdomen of Vicks. Biggs removes his blade from the dead man’s body, and with a laugh, kicks Vicks into his oblivion.

“That’s all of them,” Wedge stated, glancing away from the steaming wreck of the last Narshean Armor. The encased esper looked no worse for wear from the fallout of battle.

The team activate the steam trolley the esper is stationed on and begin moving the esper out of the mine, double tapping the Narshean Armors to ensure they are disabled.

~~~~~

The resistance out of the mine… existed, but they handled only one more Armor, and the rest of the pedestrian and animal forces of Narshe posed no contest to the Imperial Eishi.

“Four Armors confirmed so far. The insignias can’t be made out in the night. The white Armor appears Imperial... They are now opening up a line of communication,” a Narshean dispatch spoke.

“Receive it,” spoke up a Narshean Marshal.

The Imperial Eishi have relinked into the Narshe network and have begun spying on their communications.

“Imperials! Have you not done enough damage? Are you torching the town too?” spoke the Marshal.

“Heh, is that anyway to greet to your neighbors? We’re no Imperial swine, and we’re here to aid you” spoke the voice of a man drunk on his own valor.

“Figaro?! Please send your encryption keys, we’re in need of your help,” the Marshal said.

“Crap. We’re indeed late, then?” said the valorous drunk, reality crashing a smidge as the opportunity to be a hero dimmed.

“Keys confirmed. Figaro identified,” dispatch confirmed.

“We have three Armored Imperial Eishi in the mine and they have eliminated all of our forces in their way so far. They have secured the esper and wiped out all of Armor. Their leader is confirmed to be Captain Branford, Eishi of the Red Baroness, Heroine of the Veldt.”

“The Empire knows my weakness?! I cannot harm a lady!” said the valorous drunk.

“She’s no lady, that bitch is a monster! There’s no way she’s human!!” another voice entered the line, the voice of a... spunky young lady.

“Watch your mouth, kid!” shot back the valorous drunk.

“It’s true!” could be heard in the background.

“Listen, what unit are you?” asked the Marshal.

“The Returners!” the spunky young lady said.

“Alright, Returners, the Imperials have invoked Article III of the De la Norte Imperative and have already gotten their hands on the esper,” the Marshal said.

“...The rumors were true, then...” the valorous drunk muttered while the Marshal continued speaking.

“They’ll be out of the mines from the main entrance. But frankly, they already wiped out the entirety of our Armored division, and our only biological weapon. They are extremely...” but the Marshal was cut off.

“Leave the battle against the Imperials to us,” a cool, commanding voice cut off the Marshal.

Terra’s heart skipped a beat.

“Right! Evacuate what surrounding areas you can and keep your citizens and soldiers safe,” said the valorous drunk.

The Imperials continued their march, right out of the mines, Esper in tow. With Narshe’s heavy defenses in shambles, the threat of their manpower is inconsequential.

Terra could feel it. In her heart, in her mind, in her body, in her soul. Every inch of skin on fire. Soaked in napalm. The rising of the air in her lungs with every breath, heating her blood cells. The solar flare in her cheeks breaking the dim night of winter, deep in the mines. A passion, rising, boiling.

“...We have contact,” Wedge alarmed as they stepped out of the cave, Terra some meters behind him, and Biggs, manning the controls on the payload, a bit further behind from there. Terra had already kicked on the M-Tek Barrier.

Before them, basking in the light blizzard of wind that gently glided snow all through the sky, reaching for the blissful rest of earth, stood a lone white Magitek Armor. Snow whirled around the Armor like a tornado, refracting the little light of the night sky all around.

Through gritted teeth, with an irrepressible seething, Terra barked to Wedge, “Step aside! I’m taking point.”

All of it. All of this. All of everything. All she is. All she was. All she will. All she can. Friendship. Betrayal. Happiness. Bitter enmity. Smiles. Tears. Laughs. Struggles. Good times. Bad rhymes. Comfort. Abandonment. All of those nights, sleepless, restless, before hoping everything turned out okay for them, that they weren’t dead or in pain or in danger. All of the fighting, seasons away from them, a reason to fight neck deep in the swarms of the Zerg for an actor that had never otherwise been a force for good.

A deep breath.

Fury _frothing_.

Staring, vision red.

Silence, save the teeth, _chattering._

Another deep breath.

And suddenly,

_**“TRAITOR!”** _

Terra both screamed and snarled as she lunged the Red Baroness, full rockets, with ALL of her fury and more, into the White Raven.


End file.
